It's been a stressful weekend. Having two trees picked out for the garden, room for only one of them, this being the last large shade tree for the property - it had to be the right one. The decision was a difficult one - two beautiful trees; two completely different looks; both needing about the same requirements for strong growth and longivity.
We spent an entire Saturday afternoon looking at trees, questioning the nursery manager about all of them, finding these two and deciding that either would work and tagging both. After we picked out both trees, we called the nursery several times over the weekend with questions about each of them. Even yesterday, we called several times with more questions, spent the weekend online looking up everything we could about both trees. Pointing out the good points and the bad points of each of them.
Both trees were on my list of "must haves" but I couldn't have both without overcrowding the landscape. Both trees are very large when mature. Both are slower growers, though the sweet gum will grow faster than the oak.
The oak would still be standing when all the other trees in the garden, except for the beech, have long succumbed to old age. Of course, what would I care, I won't live to be 500 years old anyway. Most business, people and history buffs will go out of their way to save a mighty white oak, giving the tree a name, i.e. "The Memory Tree", "The Witness Tree", "The Heitage Tree", etc., when any other tree would be cut down. But then again, what would I care, I won't live to be 200 years old (when these trees are usually named and saved).
The sweet gum is a fossil tree, having survived from pre-historic times. It is called Liquidamber, dating the tree from the time of dinosaurs. It is just as massive and strong as the oak, though there is no age limit given with this tree. But then, what should I care, I won't live to be 200 years old. The sweet gum is a medicinal tree. The sap of this tree was once used (maybe still is) for chewing, helping headaches, colds and other common ailments. The autumn color of this tree is breathtaking.
Both trees can be messy. The acorns of the white oak are plentyful and eaten by everything that eats. This can be a good thing, with all manor of creatures helping to maintain the tree. The sweet gum has large spiny nuts that can be hard to walk on but where the tree is, these nuts will be noticed mostly by the lawn tractor. The oak will bear its nuts immediately where the sweet gum will need to mature to a nice ripe age of 15 to 20 years old before bearing nuts. The nuts of the sweet gum are eaten by songbirds, squirrels and wild turkey of which we have in this area. The sweet gum has fewer problems with pests and disease.
The decision was finally made. All our concerns were answered by way of the nursery manager and the internet. I believe we all had a major learning experience with this. Husband and I are both avid gardeners and put a lot of thought and care into our garden. We ask the help of those with more specialized experience for maintaining certain aspects of our garden as well as deciding what plants we want in it. The nursery manager at this nursery didn't seem to mind us tying up his afternoon or answering a half dozen or more phone calls from us about the trees of choice. This isn't the first tree we got from this nursery, and probably not the last either. I might still be putting some pretty understory trees in...who knows.
We altimately chose the sweet gum because it was different though a natural tree for this area. There aren't many of them but they can be seen at all ages. It is in a spot where the nuts shouldn't be the big problem that most folks complain about. It's far away from walking paths, driveways and roadways. It won't be able to throw it's nuts far enough to dent house siding, cars or anything else except ground. It will encourage songbirds and turkey into the garden to eat the nuts...squirrels too eventually.
So there you have it. The stressful process of decision making for something that will live to be hundreds of years old, if left to and the impact it will eventually have on the areas wildlife. The tree is in the garden, planted and ready to start it's life. It will need my beginning fertilizer that will help the roots strengthen, destress and give the tree the necessary fungus it needs to help it survive the first two or three years. It also waits for the much needed rain we hope to get this week. This is the last of the big shade trees. It now needs to grow strong and staight and provide the garden with all that it has to offer.
Our big shade trees are our biggest assets. They provide shelter, shade, lumber, food for all living things. They are the house and staple and oxygen of our eco system. There are fewer and fewer of them. Most homes now are on such small properties that it's not as ecomonical to have the large trees. They get to be to close to houses and the roots are as powerful as the trees themselves, braking up basement walls, sewage systems and underground utilities. Many folks opt for smaller trees with smaller root systems and smaller of everything else such as food, oxygen and protection. I'm glad I have a property large enough to maintain a number of these large trees. I have eleven of the large hardwood shade trees, each will average about 80 feet tall with spreads up to 50 feet as well as spruce and cypress in the garden. There's still plenty of sun, even after these mature, for growing roses. As my garden is growing, I'm beginning to love it more and more. It's getting to the point now where I can really enjoy it.
1 comment:
WoW!!! It's beautiful!
:-) (Aussie does the happy clap)
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